What is Strategic Business Planning?
Strategic Business Planning is the action-driven process that coordinates a company’s resources to achieve specific goals and maximize a company’s activities for optimal potential.
Strategic business planning focuses on the entrepreneurial efforts of a company, whereas traditional business planning simply defines the activities of a company. The major tasks in developing a strategic business plan include:
- setting a mission and vision
- defining your copmany core values
- appraising your company’s capabilities- internal analysis
- assessing your company’s environment- external analysis
- defining your copmany’s objectives
- developing your company’s strategies
- developing date-specific action plans to accomplsh your company’s objectives
- evaluating and controlling the strategy for long-term success
Levels of Strategic Business Planning
Strategic business planning occurs at three different levels within an organization:
- Corporate Level- What business are we in?
- Business Level- How should we compete?
- Functional Level- How do we synchronize resources to compete?
- Strategic planning already occurs in every business, regardless of its size, age or revenue. Taking the time to develop a strategic business plan is simply a more effective way of doing something that is already being done.
Unlike traditional business planning which concentrates on defining the major aspects of a company- management, products and services, marketing, etc., strategic business planning concentrates efforts on coordinating resources (human, capital and time) to meet attainable goals consistent with the analysis of the tasks mentioned above.
Why Develop a Strategic Business Plan?
Strategic business planning is useful because it forces the owners and managers of a company act with a definiteness of purpose for every action undertaken. There are several reasons to develop a strategic business plan and each company will have its own. Below are ten:
- Maximize the use of limited capital, human and time resources for optimal efficiency and outcomes;
- Gain buy-in from your clients and employees for your vision of the company’s future.
- Develop and execute strategies to maximize your company’s performance
- Stakeholders increase responsibility and accountability for results
- Capitalize on new and emerging technologies and trends for growth
- Identify value-added opportunities to grow the company
- Clarify roles and responsibilities to create a team environment
- Realize the company’s vision
Proactive Strategic Planning: The Key to Long-Term Success
Many a mission statement includes the phrase “to always exceed the customer’s expectations.” The phase is oftentimes added with little consideration for its meaning. In short, what the phase implies is that there will be ongoing strategic planning and management that adapts to the changing needs of clients and environment. Operating without a sincere effort to exceed your customer’s expectations, means that you will eventually not meet their expectations, lose market share and, sooner than expected, be forced out of business.
Components of a Strategic Business Plan
- You company’s Mission, Vision, & Core Values
- Analysis of your company’s strengths and weaknesses
- Analysis of your copmany’s opportunities and threats
- Long-term objectives
- Strategies
- Customized Action Plans
Norman D. Roussell, MBA
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